


Being Spider-Man (And Why It Sucks)

by canaryjpg



Series: Spider-Man Pidge AU [1]
Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I Don't Even Know, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Swearing, i killed matt and sam, lance is a worried boyfriend, pidge keeps getting hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-06-29 11:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15728769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canaryjpg/pseuds/canaryjpg
Summary: Katie "Pidge" Parker is Spider-Man. Her boyfriend Lance knows this, but it doesn't make watching her run into danger head first any easier.OR: Spider-Man Plance AU in which Pidge keeps hurting herself on patrol and it makes Lance very nervous.





	1. Uh, Little Help?

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a one-shot but I really liked writing it so I'm turning it into a full fic. Thanks for reading!! <3

Lance snapped his eyes open at the sound of furious banging from his window. A million thoughts ran through his head immediately, wondering what in the hell could be making such an intense noise, before rolling over on his bed to face the window across the room. A shadowed figure, that looked at least somewhat human, that he couldn't quite make out banged its fists on his window from the outside, effectively scaring the hell out of him.

 

He squinted, trying to zone in on whatever it was and see the silhouette clearer. It seemed frantic, and he could make out a muffled noise coming from the outside, under all the racket from the banging. He propped himself up on his arm and rubbed at his eyes, clearing them of the bleariness. The figure was definitely human, but how could a human be five stories up and at  _ his  _ window?

 

_ Oh. _ The realization hit him like a slap to the face.

 

He kicked his covers off and jolted out of bed. He ran across the room in his bare feet and unlocked the window for her to climb in. Sure, he knew life would be weirder with his girlfriend being a vigilante superhero, but this definitely wasn't what he thought his nights would be like.

 

His heart rate picked up a little seeing that her mask was nowhere in sight and her face was unnaturally pale. She clambered into the room quickly, her left hand placed firmly on her right shoulder. Lance held his arms out and gripped her waist, helping her steady herself on the ground. He had to admit, he did feel a little happy to see her, but the feeling was short lived.

 

"Pidge?! What the-- why are you here? It's the  _ middle of the night! _ " Lance whisper-shouted, backing up from her to give her space. He knew Pidge went out late nights on patrol when she couldn't sleep, but she never visited him this way.

 

"I-I need your help." she stuttered, anxiety spilling through her tone.

 

Lance stared at her sallow face for a minute, wondering what happened in his life that could've possibly led up to Spider-Man asking for his help in his bedroom at 3AM. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright, alright. With what?"

 

Pidge looked away from Lance's gaze, eyebrows creased with worry, then slowly pulled her hand away from her arm. There was a large tear in her suit and the sides of the costume were frayed like she'd been picking on the thread. But, what was more worrying, was the crimson-colored stain surrounding the tear. A large gash could be seen through her skin. Lance held back a gasp by covering his mouth and stared at Pidge's bleeding wound.

 

" _ Pidge-- _ !"

 

"I know, I know, I know! I need your help!"

 

"Wha- how did this happen!?"

 

"I don't know, it's not like I go around fighting criminals at night or anything!"

 

Lance palmed his forehead and motioned for Pidge to follow him onto his bed.

 

"Okay," Lance said, willing himself to calm down, "what do you want me to do? Why didn't you just go to a hospital?"

 

"I can't just walk in with my costume on!  _ Nobody  _ knows who Spider-Man is and walking into a hospital in full Spider-Man garb is just a  _ little  _ bit of a giveaway. And my mom is home, so if I try and go home I run the risk of waking her up and I will be a dead girl walking if that happens. Can you just patch it up?"

 

"Yeah, course,” he nodded, “you want me to kiss it and make it feel better too?"

 

Pidge used her free hand to shove Lance off the bed. "Dick, I'm being serious."

 

Lance chuckled but gave her a genuine smile as he stood back up. "Okay okay, I'll get you some bandages. There's a first aid kit in the bathroom, you want me to get that, or...?"

 

"Mhm, thanks."

 

Lance nodded and left to get Pidge what she needed. He'd almost made it to the bathroom when a drowsy voice caught his attention.

 

"Jesus, Lance... did you hear that too?"

 

He nearly jumped out of his skin until he recognized the sweet tone belonging to his mother. He spun around and saw her standing in the hallway, brushing her tousled hair out of her face. Lance stood stock-still like a deer caught in headlights.

 

"Uh-- what?" he stammered.

 

"That banging. It woke Marco up too, he thought there was a monster outside."

 

Lance sighed. "Oh, yeah, scared the sh- heck out of me. I-I think it was just a raccoon."

 

The corners of her eyes crinkled and she tilted her head a little bit. "Huh. Weird, we never see raccoons around here."

 

His heart skipped a beat as realized the weakness of his lie. Still, he persisted. "Yeah, so weird. It's gone now though."

 

She looked at him skeptically, like she was about to say something, but simply nodded and headed back to her room. "That's good. Night, Lovebug."

 

"Night Ma." Lance waved as he began walking towards the bathroom again.

 

He started by getting a rag and running it under the sink for a few seconds to wash the blood off. He then looked through the shelf behind the mirror in the bathroom for the first aid kit and  grabbed it.

 

He quietly walked back into his room where Pidge was sitting criss-cross on his bed with her right arm exposed to let Lance see how bad the cut was. Luckily her advanced healing had already started to fix the wound and it seemed to alleviate some of the pain. Still, blood ran down from it like a leaky faucet and landed on her leg.

 

Lance cleaned the blood off her arm and rubbed the rag over her wound, the latter making her wince slightly. He gave her an apologetic grin and started to reach for the bandages.

 

"Yikes," Lance spoke up when he saw how deep the cut went into her skin, almost hitting the bone, "how did this even happen?"

 

"Just some jackasses trying to mug this kid. I fought them off long enough for the kid to get away, and  _ just  _ long enough for them to wedge a shard of glass into my shoulder."

 

Lance grimaced. He understood — Pidge wanted to protect people, she was self-sacrificing and would gladly get hurt for others. It was a blessing and a curse. But she was still just a teenager, and just because she was strong it didn’t mean she was invincible.

 

“Pidge, you really have to be careful.” He said seriously. “I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you, not to mention Colleen.”

 

The change in mood weighed heavily. Pidge looked down and sighed. “Don’t get sappy on me, Lance. This was just one time.”

 

Lance considered pressing her but decided to drop it. They sat in silence together in the dark, him tending to her wounds. The underlying worry he had for her still hadn’t gone away, even though he knew she’d be fine. He felt his stomach turning in the same way it had when he first saw her face.

 

He was proud of Pidge. Really, he was. But going out every night and risking her life every night still sent a nervous pain to his chest.

 

He finished patching Pidge up and smiled at her. She looked at him and gave him a thumbs up, eyes brighter than they’d been before. Lance pulled her into a surprise hug, overcome with the emotion of how scared he was to lose her. Admittedly, this wasn’t the most serious injury ever, but it made Lance worry about future patrols.

 

Pidge stiffened at first but ultimately leaned into him and wrapped her uninjured arm around him. She pressed her face into the crook of his neck.

 

“You’re gonna kill me someday,” Lance mumbled.

 

“Seriously,” Pidge exhaled, “don’t worry about me, I can handle my own.”

 

He pulled away to stare into her eyes, full of love and anxiety. “I can’t believe I’m dating Spider-Man.”

 

Pidge looked ready to say something, but a knock at the door made both of them jump.

 

“Lance? Can I come in for a second?” His mom called. Pidge and Lance shot each other a terrified look.

 

Pidge jumped out of bed at an almost inhuman speed and gave Lance a quick kiss on the cheek before hastily climbing up the window and slipping out of it. Lance’s face reddened as he watched her swing across buildings.

 

“Yeah, Mom, come in,” he called, still staring at the window.

 

_ I can’t believe I fell in love with Spider-Man. _


	2. This Place is Lit

“So, can you talk to spiders?”

 

“No, Hunk.”

 

“Can you read their spider-brains?”

 

“No, Hunk.”

 

“Do you have an army of spiders?”

 

“Yes, and if you keep asking questions I’ll sic ‘em on you.”

 

Hunk laughed, then stopped. “That’s a joke right?”

 

Pidge simply shook her head in reply and bit into her sandwich. The lunchroom buzzed with kids yelling and laughing, among them Pidge, Hunk and Lance sitting together at a table.

 

Pidge leaned against Lance and yawned. She couldn’t help it; she was tired. She was out longer than usual last night, fighting some random street mugger. He was surprisingly powerful, and the fight took way longer than it had to. She managed to web him up, but not before giving her a beatdown that still stung a day later despite the advanced healing. Plus the wound in her shoulder still hadn’t fully recovered, leaving one arm all but useless.

 

“Is that why you’re so tired? Cause you were out Spider-Manning?”

 

Pidge nodded, stretching her arms out like a cat. “Mhm.”

 

Lance peeked at his phone and cursed under his breath when he noticed the time. “Hunk and I gotta get to class. See you later,” he smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple as him and Hunk stood from the table. Pidge waved goodbye, then winced a little as the wounds flared up. She could only hope Lance didn’t notice as she looked back down at the table.

 

+++

 

“You okay?”

 

The question was out of the blue and it made her reel a little bit. Pidge spun around to see Lance. He leaned against the locker next to hers and knitted his brows. “You were super tired all day. Long night?”

 

She just nodded and rubbed at her eyes, almost childishly.

 

“Take a break if you need it, okay? I don’t think Queens will mind if you gave some time to yourself.”

 

“No can do, Lancey Lance.” Despite her fatigue, she perked up and gave him a lively smile. “Besides, I love being Spider-Man! I don’t mind if my sleep schedule suffers because of the coolest job in the world.” She pushed her books into her bag and adjusted her glasses. Lance seemed like he wanted to say more, but he stayed silent as Pidge waved goodbye and left the school.

 

She was excited to get back into the suit. As much as being beat up sucked, the rush of adrenaline and helping others made it completely worth it. She slipped into a dark and dank alleyway and changed into the Spider suit, one she’d made herself. She swung from building to building freely, looking out for any type of crime she could stop.

 

For a while she found nothing. Just giving a few kids autographs and selfies, helping old people cross the street, and helping a little girl find her cat. She was happy to help, sure, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she could — or  _ should _ — be doing something more.

 

The day picked up when her hearing picked up on an alarm blaring down the street. She ran over to investigate, inhaling sharply when she saw what triggered the alarm.

 

Smoke flooded out of the windows of an apartment building, the roof and walls engulfed in flames. The FDNY had already gotten there, but judging from the screams both on the ground and in the building, people were still trapped inside. It looked ready to collapse.

 

“Spider-Man!” someone screamed. Pidge snapped her head down to face them. He looked like a teenager, hugging his body with tear stains on his face.

 

In a split decision of bravery and stupidity, she climbed up the burning building despite the firefighters yelling after her. She slipped into one of the windows where the screaming was loudest and crouched down onto the floor. Scanning the area, she felt fire lick at her suit and it made her heart pump. She tried not to breathe in the smoke heavily even when she desperately wanted to and crawled to the bathroom door. She managed to push it open and stumbled in to see a girl that couldn’t be older than 12 huddled against the wall. The skin on her right foot was red and burned and her glassy eyes were blown wide.

 

“Hey, I’m gonna get you out of here,” Pidge murmured soothingly and she picked the girl up. She instantly clung to her, wrapping her arms around her neck and her legs around her waist. Pidge kept her head low and ran back to the window, swinging to the ground and reuniting her with her family. The father picked her up and held her tightly to his chest, sobbing out thank yous.

 

“Is anyone else in there?” Pidge asked.

 

The girl rubbed at her eyes and nodded. “I-I heard someone else.”

 

She didn’t think twice as she put her hand over her mouth and nose and ran back into the building. She dropped to the floor and pushed the front door open. Sure enough, she heard a faint call for help in another room below her. She moved to the stairs, but a sudden creaking noise from the ceiling followed by a crash stopped her. Before she could process what was happening, a searing pain in her leg flared up and she bit back a yelp.

 

She turned and saw the debris from the ceiling covering her leg, wood poking at her skin and fire forming sick burns. She pushed the wood off with shaking hands and pulled her leg back. The pain made her stomach twist. She stumbled down and tried to shake the pain off as she burst into the apartment that seemed to be the source of the yelling, and picked up a little boy and his dog to help them out the window into the arms of the policemen below them.

 

When the firefighters announced no one was still in the apartment complex, Pidge fled the scene without another word. Her leg still burned with agonizing pain and her lungs felt clouded with smoke.

 

She swung back into the alley she left her bag in and practically ripped her suit off, writhing in pain and coughing violently.

 

A string of curses escaped her mouth when she tried to stand back up. She changed back into her school clothes as fast as she could and limped back to her house. Her patrol usually lasted twice as long, but she was too tired and the pain was too strong to go out again. The thought of curling up in her bed and passing out for the rest of the night was a blessing.

 

When she got home, her mom didn’t seem to see anything wrong with Pidge’s leg. She gave her a sweet smile.

 

“Hi honey. How was school?”

 

“Good,” she replied quickly, honestly just wanting to get into her room.

 

“So, about tomorrow, apparently they’re doing construction on the road you usually walk to school on, so you’re gonna have to take the long way. Is that okay?”

 

_ Shit. Fuck _ . “Yeah, that’s fine.” She lied.

 

“Great. Call me if anything happens, I work early tomorrow but I’ll come get you if you want.”

 

“Thanks Mom.” Colleen gave her a kiss on the cheek and busied herself with washing the dishes. Pidge fled into her room and stifled a long, drawn out groan.

 

_ Of all the fucking days. _

 

Well, that’s Parker Luck for her.


	3. Shooty Shooty Bang Bang

“You’re limping.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“You’re _limping._ ”

 

Pidge turned to face her boyfriend on the sidewalk and clenched her fists. “I said I’m fine. My leg will heal, I’ll be okay. You don’t need to worry.”

 

“I _do_ need to worry because when I get home and turn the TV on, the last thing I want to see is you running into a burning building! You scared the shit out of me!”

 

“What did you want me to do, Lance? Just let those kids die? Some fucking hero I’d be. I can handle a burn, I can’t handle knowing I let two kids die because I was _scared_.”

 

Lance rubbed at his temples. The tension seemed to leave his body all at once, shoulders slumping and back curving. “God, your guilt complex is worse than mine. Look, you don’t have to blame yourself for not saving everybody all the time every single day.”

 

“You don’t get it!” she shouted. Because he didn’t. He didn’t know what it was like to watch someone die because of him. He’s never had someone’s death on his hands.

 

He gazed down at her leg before looking back into her eyes. “Just stop barreling into every problem you find. You really freaked me out when you came to my house, and now…”

 

“I’m fine, Lance. Seriously.”

 

He looked ready to protest, but thankfully dropped it. They walked to school in silence.

 

+++

 

Lance eyed Pidge wearily as she hobbled to her locker. He hated the fact she tried to pretend everything was fine. He remembered how utterly terrified he felt watching her jump into a fire on TV. He had kept his eyes glued on the screen until he saw her scrambling out one of the windows and swinging away.

 

He was jostled out of his thoughts by Hunk waving his hand in his face.

 

“Helloooooo? Anyone in there?” Hunk teased.

 

“Uh- yeah- sorry.”

 

Hunk looked to where Lance’s eyes were fixated.

 

“Oh, you saw her on the news yesterday?” he whispered. “Awesome, right?”

 

 _No._ “Yeah.”

 

Hunk must have seen the worry in Lance’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I just… I’m anxious about her. What if she gets hurt?”

 

He smiled. “D’aww, Lance, you don’t have to worry. She’s…” he looked around to make sure no one was listening before whispering, “Spider-Man. She’s gonna be just fine.”

 

Lance looked back at Pidge, who was walking with an uneven gait away from her locker. “I know.”

 

+++

 

Pidge _really_ needed to get a grip. In the past week alone she’d been stabbed, beaten up, and burned. She wasn’t a stranger to getting hurt on patrol, but each day it seemed to be getting worse and worse.

 

She sat on the edge of a building, letting her injured leg hang off the side. She listened in for an alarm or a call for help, secretly hoping she wouldn’t hear one. But, of course, an alarm had to ring out a few blocks away. She shook the pain off and webbed herself over to the source of the noise.

 

It was a corner store that didn’t look too out of the ordinary. It wasn’t on _fire,_ so it had to be a step up.

 

She looked through the window and instantly spotted the problem. A man held a gun to the cashier’s head, watching as he fumbled to open the cash register. _Great,_ she thought, _classic store robbery._

 

She didn’t hesitate to run into the small store and hold up her web shooters to the man. “Nice try, dude, but I’m gonna have to cut in.”

 

He spun around and snarled at her. He started to grab the cashier and pull him closer, but she webbed his hand to the counter before he could do anything. She gave an apologetic look to the man before focusing back on the robber.

 

Sirens roared from behind her and the robber’s eyes turned frantic. He shouted obscenities at her and held his gun up at her as a threat. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best idea to taunt him when he had a gun pointed at her, but she tended to babble when she was nervous.

 

_Just gotta keep him busy- aaaaaand the gun went off._

 

Her hands flew to her abdomen and she could feel blood start to pour out. Her stomach lurched as the sticky liquid substance slipped through her fingers.

 

She stumbled back and resisted the urge to scream. As the police came closer Pidge ran, holding one hand to her wound and using her free hand to web away. She breathed heavily in shallow, ragged breaths. She still felt tears prick behind her eyes in pain and fear. She needed to get home.

 

+++

 

“You okay, hon?” Colleen called knocking on the bathroom door. She fumbled to hide her bandages and pulled her shirt down over her wound.

 

“U-uh, yeah Mom, I-I’m good.” she sputtered.

 

“You’ve been in there for almost an hour.”

 

“I have a bloody nose.”

 

“Oh, well let me-“

 

“No!” she shouted. “No, it’s okay, don’t come in here.”

 

There was a beat of silence before Pidge heard a sigh. “Alright… tell me if you need me.”

 

“Will do.”

 

She heard footsteps leaving the door and she pressed her hands roughly back into her wounded area. She’d been able to cut the bullet out, though not easily. The pain was damn near unbearable. But the worst of it was over.

 

She took the bandages and wrapped them around her stomach with messy hands stained with crimson. Gripping onto the sink, she tried to stand up but her legs gave out on her and she fell on her back to the floor.

 

“Katie? I heard a crash, are you alright?” came her mom’s voice once more.

 

“Y-yeah,” she said, trying to keep her voice even, “I’m good. I just tripped.”

 

She stayed on the ground and stared at the ceiling, trying to push back a sob growing in her throat. She couldn’t worry her mom like that. She already lost so much; if she walked into the bathroom to find her daughter bleeding from a bullet wound, Pidge thought she might lose it. Honestly, she was about to lose it herself.

 

She eventually found her way to her room, making sure her mom wasn’t watching her. She wanted to pull her computer up and do some research on bullet wounds to make sure she wouldn’t, you know,  _ die _ , but she was so tired, she ended up dozing off to the sound of rain tapping on the window. 


	4. You Must be Level 5 to Unlock My Tragic Backstory

_Thank God for the weekend._ Pidge lay in bed for a full two days letting her injuries heal. Her shoulder wound was almost completely healed save the small scar it left, her limp had all but disappeared and her bullet wound hurt significantly less than before. It wasn’t difficult to keep her mom out of the know, Pidge usually spent the weekends sat in bed staring at her laptop anyway. By Monday she felt ready to go out as Spider-Man again.

 

Lance kept sneaking glances at her at school. Her hair was disheveled and there were dark bags under her eyes. But compared to the past week, she’s never been better.

 

Really, she understood why he was so worried. But she was okay. He didn’t _need_ to worry about her.

 

Everything would turn out fine, just like always.

 

+++

 

“Katie, are you sure you’re alright?”

 

Pidge gave a smile of reassurance to her mother. “Yeah, I’m great.”

 

“You’ve been so secretive lately, it worries me. I know you’re a teenager, but…” she trailed off as her forehead creased. Pidge gripped onto her hand across the mahogany dining table. Colleen took it graciously.

 

Pidge’s mind went to Matt and Sam. Ever since them she’s been sneaking out, staying away from the house longer, locking herself in her room. Of course her mom noticed, how couldn’t she?

 

Colleen’s eyes glistened. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

 

“No, don’t be, it’s okay.”

 

“I wish I could be better for you.”

 

Pidge stood and pulled her mother into a tight hug. Her fingers dug into Colleen’s back. “It’s okay, really, I’m fine.” she whispered.

 

“I saw your leg.”

 

She froze. _Shit._ “Uh- I don’t-”

 

“You have to tell me what’s going on. I can’t lose you, not you.”

 

She didn’t know what to say.

 

“Mom… I’m so sorry. I can’t-”

 

“Cut the bullshit, Katie, _please._ ”

 

Pidge stammered. She was backed into a corner, and she felt pathetic.

 

Why did _she_ have to be bit by a radioactive spider? Why did _she_ have to be Spider-Man? Why did _she_ have to lie to her mom every night? Why did her life have to be so fucking weird all the time? _Why did she have to lose Matt and Sam?_

 

Why did Matt and Sam have to leave?

 

Tears she’d tried pushing back flowed down her face. “I-I… I just- everything is _so_ _much_ all the time and I’m always stressed and I just wish they were here so bad-“ she cried, and Colleen didn’t have to ask who ‘they’ were. She enveloped her daughter in her arms and rubbed her back soothingly as she cried.

 

“It’s okay, baby, I know.”

 

Pidge just sobbed and tried to form any type of coherency in her words. “I’m- I’m sorry. It was a s-stupid thing, I didn’t mean to get burned-”

 

She cut herself off with a sniffle and clutched onto her mother harder.

 

“It’s okay. Just tell me when you’re hurt. I won’t be mad.”

 

_Not even if it’s a bullet wound in the stomach?_

 

“Thanks Mom. I-I love you.”

 

“I love you too. But I worry. I need you to tell me these things.”

 

“I will.”

 

Pidge hated lying, but really, what other choice did she have?

 

+++

 

Lance couldn’t stop thinking about Pidge. The way she would wince whenever she moved the wrong way, her unnaturally pale skin and her exhausted eyes. It scared him.

 

Every time he tried to bring it up, she would just shoot it down, which didn’t exactly ease his fears. She was hiding something from him. She already told him about _Spider-Man,_ what other secrets are there to keep?

 

Whatever it was, he wasn’t as hurt as he was worried. He just wanted Pidge to be okay. He knew even as a little kid she’d tell her parents whenever she got a paper cut or scraped her knees, but now she was going against crime bosses and maniacs and not telling anyone shit.

 

He became lost in his thoughts walking down the sidewalk to his apartment. It was dark and the city lit up with yellow windows and white lights, almost nobody on the street. He’d spent his birthday at Hunk’s playing D&D along with Allura and Keith, a little dejected when he realized Pidge wasn’t coming. But it had gotten late to the point none of them could keep their eyes open, and Lance just decided to call it a night and walk home. Sure, it was less safe than calling a taxi, but he didn’t have money, and his family was already asleep.

 

“Lance!” someone above him whisper-shouted. Lance spun around and spotted a red and blue suit hanging upside down off a web. He huffed a breath of relief and shuffled closer to her.

 

“Pidge,” he said after making sure no one else was close to them, “what are you doing?”

 

“What, you think I’d just forget about my boy on his birthday? You and I are going on a date.”

 

“You don’t have-”

 

“Ah ah ah! I hope you’re not afraid of heights, Watson!” she held her hand out excitedly. For once, he didn’t jump to grab it.

 

“Why weren’t you at Hunk’s today? He said you were coming.” Lance couldn’t help the twinge of disappointment laced in his voice.

 

Her face fell. “I’m sorry. There was a bit of an Avengers emergency.”

 

“There always is.”

 

“If it’s any consolation, the mission really sucked. It wasn’t even fun, I was thinking about you the whole time. Like when you watch a bad movie but it’s not so bad that it’s funny and you’re just stuck wishing you watched another movie.”

 

He chuckled at her rambling. “Am I a movie that’s so bad it’s funny?”

 

“Dude, you’re like the Star Wars OT of movies. I’d pick you over anyone else, any day.”

 

Lance huffed out a laugh as his face became flushed.

 

“I’m really sorry. I should’ve been there. But I wanna make it better, and I think I know how.” she held out her hand one more time.

 

_Damnit, Katie Parker._

 

Grasping onto her hand, he let his worry wash away for a moment. She lifted her mask above her mouth and gave a lopsided smile to her boyfriend. He couldn’t help blushing at that smile.

 

She leaned in and pressed her lips against his. He returned the action, and the rest of the world fell away for a minute, as if they were the only people in New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLICHE IK. I just wanted her and Lance to make up of sorts. Ofc he still worries about her, but she always wants him to know she’s ok.
> 
> Also, this is the last chapter I have pre-written, so my schedule from this point on will just be whenever time allows. Luckily, it’s a four day weekend, so I’m gonna have a lot of time to work on it! Thank you for reading!!


	5. You Make My Heart Go Doki Doki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I decided to make this my last chapter. I just really don't know where to go from here. If/when I write anything else Spider-Pidge related, I'll add it to a collection along with this fic, but that might not be for a little while. Sorry for ending it so abruptly, y'all. At least you get it earlier?
> 
> That being said, I'd love to thank Laura, rainbowrider1290, and Kait for leaving such kind comments on this fic!! You guys are the reason this was so fun to write. Thank you, sincerely.

“Oh, what the fuck and hell shit-” Lance muttered, peering over the edge of the web. They were suspended between two buildings by a hammock-like web Pidge had put together earlier in the day. He usually wasn’t afraid of heights, but the web wasn’t exactly _stable._

 

“Would you relax? I’m not gonna let you fall.” Pidge snorted.

 

Lance gave her an uneasy look but settled down nonetheless. The view was actually pretty nice from where they were. It was dark and the city lit up with orange lights glowing from the apartments around them, taking place of the stars covered by the heavy pollution. They were nothing alike, and truth be told Lance always preferred the _real_ night sky, but he could appreciate the beauty of New York City.

 

He relaxed on the web as Pidge shot a web to a picnic basket on the roof of a nearby building and pulled it towards her.

 

“How cliche,” Lance giggled. Pidge shrugged and offered him a deli sandwich. She took out a ham sandwich that looked homemade and bit into it. They ate in comfortable silence. Well, the city was never _really_ silent, he figured, always a car horn or dog bark or soft voices coming from the apartments near him. But the background noise was comforting.

 

“Hey,” Pidge said softly after a moment. Lance snapped from the fantasy land he was in to her.

 

“I’m in love with you.”

 

They both froze. Lance could feel his breath hitch and he could see Pidge tensing her shoulders. She looked down as if she were ashamed to say it.

 

“You’re always right there… you’re so forgiving, and kind, and genuine, and-and I really don’t deserve it all, but you-” she cut herself off with a sniffle. _Is she crying?_

 

“Katie…”

 

Lance couldn’t help but lurch forward and wrap Pidge in his arms. She buried her face into his chest, round glasses jabbing into his body, and balled up the fabric of his shirt in her small fists.

 

 _I cannot_ believe _I fell in love with Spider-Man._

 

“Sorry, this is so stupid-” she mumbled.

 

“No, it isn’t, I’m in love with you too.”

 

She pulled away and stared at him with red-rimmed eyes. Tears stained her cheeks. “Yeah?”

 

Her voice was so small and soft, Lance almost wanted to laugh. But he figured laughing would be the _worst_ thing he could do in this scenario, so he smiled ear to ear and nodded.

 

“I love you. So much.”

 

She pulled him back into the hug and wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging to him like a koala. “This week sucked.”

 

Lance laughed at that. “Yeah.”

 

“You made it better,” she mumbled, “you make everything better.”

 

He grabbed her cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss. They stayed like that, as silent as the city could get, as much love as they could share with each other.

 

Eventually, Pidge pulled away and gave him the warmest of warm, loving gazes, Lance could’ve melted right there.

 

“Wait.”

 

“Hm?” Lance hummed. “What?”

 

“This isn’t right.”

 

His stomach dropped and he felt like crying almost instantly. _Why? Why isn’t it-_

 

“I haven’t even given you your present.”

 

He huffed out a laugh. Right, right. That’s why.

 

She dug through her backpack before pulling out a bag with bright blue ribbons attached to it. “For ye.”

 

He chuckled and looked into the bag. He sifted through the green tissue paper, until he landed his eyes on something he _definitely_ was hallucinating. He blinked. It was still there, so he blinked a few more times.

 

“You did not.”

 

“I did.”

 

He slowly craned his neck up to look at her. “You did not.”

 

She had the most broad smile on her face. “Mmmmmhmmmm.”

 

He pulled out the camera - the new fucking camera that was probably over a thousand bucks but took _godly_ photos - the camera that was his - and held it in his hands.

 

Lance loved photography. He just did, it was his hobby. He knew Pidge knew that, but she never commented on it, or even mentioned it. He just figured…

 

Well fuck whatever he _figured,_ because by the pure unadulterated joy on Pidge’s face, he was wrong.

 

“ _Katie!”_ He near screamed, and pulled her into a tight hug. “You are the best human to ever exist. Ever. I don’t- how did you even- what the _fuck!?”_ he couldn’t help bursting into laughter, and she followed him soon after.

 

“I tested it out, it takes great pictures!”

 

 _Understatement of the year,_ Lance thought. He turned it on and scrolled through the previous photos taken. There was only one. The most breathtaking, colorful sunset he’d ever seen.

 

“You… you took this?” he whispered.

 

“I know you love them. Hard to see a real sunset through all the buildings. But I know my way around.” she winked.

 

He couldn’t even speak, he just pulled her close and pushed back tears. She rested her head on his shoulder and laced their fingers together.

 

“I know the first picture I’m gonna take.” he finally spoke softly. She looked up at him without moving from her position.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah,” he wrapped an arm around her and flipped the camera so the lens pointed at them. “Say Spider-Man!”

 

She rolled her eyes. “Spider-Man.”

 

He took the photo and stared at it. Every ounce of happiness encapsulated in one small frame.

 

“That’s a keeper.” he sighed, smiling brightly. Pidge wrapped her arms around his and nuzzled into his shoulder.

 

“I can’t believe I fell in love with Lance Watson.” she spoke into his shoulder. He barked out a laugh.

 

 _Yeah,_ he thought, _completely unbelievable._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is... Thank you to everybody who checked this out, left kudos, bookmarks, and comments. I really can't thank you enough.
> 
> If you ever want to send me requests or just chat, my tumblr is @canary-jpg and I'm very active on there!


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